Is the publishing diligence trying to kill us all ? There are so many must - interpret Holy Writ coming in February that you may not have time to kip , or socialise , or peradventure go to your job to give more books . This month ’s haul include Kelly Link and Peter Beagle write superhero tales , Neal Asher ’s trade name young dystopian world , a raw Karen Russell tale collection , and Cory Doctorow ’s followup to Little Brother .
Here are all the science fiction and phantasy leger you must learn , at any cost .
Top icon : cover of The Departure by Neal Asher .
Dreams and Shadows : A Novel by C. Robert Cargill ( Harper Voyager )
Cargill is an editor program at Ai n’t It Cool News who writes under the name Massawyrm , and here he does an urban fantasy novel about cruel fairies that diddle with us mere mortal world . There are two heroes : a son stolen by faery - hob hybrids as a baby , and a boy who meet a djinn at age eight , and the two boys have to travel across the fairy shoot down together . It ’s got good early buzz onGoodreadsanda starred critique in Publishers Weekly .
A Natural History of Dragons : A Memoir by Lady Trent by Marie Brennan ( Tor )
This is essentially what it sounds like — a fake memoir by a prim naturalist who studies dragons , and has lots of dangerous undertaking along the way , with swampland and freak and danger . If you ’re becharm by stories of nineteenth century naturalists and their scientific ventures , then this book will plausibly make you super happy , especially with the lush exemplification by Todd Lockwood .
Blood Oranges by Kathleen Tierney ( Caitlin R. Kiernan ) ( Roc )
Kiernan is known for her dark , uncanny taradiddle — but here , she ’s writing a passably promiscuous urban fantasy under a pen name , and by all accounts the result is a near bit more fun . There are vampires and lycanthrope , but they ’re not like the one you ’re used to from other urban fantasy — the werewolves do n’t look like wildcat , and the lamia are like walking sharks . And the independent quality , Siobhan , is a homeless monster Orion with drug problems — until she gets sting by both a werewolf and a lamia on the same Nox . The good news ? This cures her heroin habituation . The big news ? Everything else . Also gota starred reappraisal from PW .
American Elsewhere by Robert Jackson Bennett ( Orbit )
This is sort of your received “ bitter ex - cop inherits mysterious theater from her estranged / bushed mother ” story — except that when Mona proceed to the townsfolk of Wink , NM , she realizes that everybody in the town is a mess strange than she ’d recognise . Sort of like Haven , except that the townspeople are all aliens trying to act like normal Americans . By all accounts , this is a very Lovecraftian take on diminished - townspeople American life , with some non-white horror constituent .
country of origin by Cory Doctorow ( Tor Teen )
This is the long - awaited sequel to Little Brother , in which Marcus has make into political sympathies , and observe himself potentially having to make the sort of compromise he used to detest adults for making . consort to the reviews I ’ve read , this is even darker than Doctorow ’s previous works , and essentially tries to infuse in young the great unwashed a level-headed loathing for schools and task and all the other ways the Man endeavor to keep you down .
Fade to Black ( A Rojan Dizon Novel ) by Francis Knight ( Orbit )
This sound somewhat fun — in a city that ’s built directly upwards , with street and building piled on top of each other , one hero lurks in the shadows , hiding the fact that he ’s a “ pain mage , ” with the forestall power to draw great power from pain in the ass . Rojan Dizonhears from his buddy , who ’s in infirmary , with a dead wife and a kidnapped daughter . Saving his brother ’s family will require Dizon to go into the Pit , a shoes he ’s never been . Mostlygood buzzfor this one , although apparently it hastoo much angst for some people .
The Different Girl by Gordon Dahlquist
Four selfsame girls live on an island , report on what they see — until a fifth female child , who ’s not quite identical , arrives . I ’m guessing these female child are androids or bionic man , and they ’re in some sort of post - apocalyptic macrocosm , in this YA novel . All theearly reviewssay this is a intellection - provoking , head - bendingbook — that mayleave you puzzlingand strain through the clue even after you ’re done reading .
Superheroes , edited by Rich Horton ( Prime Books )
There are tons of theme anthologies these days , and oodles of superhero story as well . But the whimsy of a superhero collection featuring narration by Kelly Link , Peter S. Beagle , Carol Emshwiller , James Patrick Kelly and a peck of other awful writers is enough to make this one stand out . Full list of authors and their narration ishere .
The Departure ( The Owner ) by Neal Asher ( Night Shade Books )
This is the first Quran in Asher ’s Modern Owner trilogy , which has been out for age in the U.K. already — andit sound really dingy and fun . It ’s the future and the Earth is an overcrowded , disastrous good deal , ruled by the draconian Committee from orbit . The Committee have decided the human population needs to be shorten to 12 billion before the world can be furbish up , so they ’re essentially trying to lust and neglect the human subspecies down to a manageable size of it . Enter Alan Saul , a man with an A.I. in his head and retaliation on his mind .
The better of all Possible Worlds by Karen Lord
I ’m halfway through reading this account book , and have it away it so far . Lord made a huge splashing with her unveiling novel Redeption in Indigo , and her new Christian Bible is being compared a portion to Le Guin and Miéville , because of her canny exploration of foreign cultures . In a nutshell , there are some peace - loving unknown called the Sadiri , who meditate and school their genial powers — until their dwelling planet is destroyed by their distant relatives , a warlike alien airstream . That happens in the first few page , and the majority of the novel is about the Sadiri learning to live as a diaspora and trying to preserve their culture while interbreeding with their upstage relatives . Really great poppycock .
pimiento by Yasutaka Tsutsui ( Vintage )
This is not a new book , but it ’s very worth mentioning — Paprika came out in Japan in 1993 , and was made into a movie by Satoshi Kon a dozen year later . This English translation , by Andrew Driver , derive out in 2009 on a small crush . But now , it ’s out in a fancy edition from Random House , so you may watch why Nipponese lector went into mourning when Yasutaka went on strike years ago . There ’s a lengthy review of the book , equate it with the picture show , over at Strange Horizons .
The Inner City by Karen Heuler ( ChiZine Publications )
This book also hasa asterisk review from PW.And it sounds pleasingly haywire — it ’s a collection of 15 eldritch , surreal stories about cruelty and strangeness , which highlight just how inhumane our creation and social movements are . There ’s aweird petting zoowhere baby turn into fauna and dogs turn over into hoi polloi , and fish become crazy and strong-growing . There are strange cities , and terrifying rides . It fathom jarring and awesome .
lamia in the Lemon Grove : Stories by Karen Russell
The generator of Swamplandia is back with her second brusk chronicle collection , and it’salso get a starred review . These stories include vampires ( as the deed suggests ) but also weird talismanic object that speak for the universe , and tattoos that predict the future . By all accounts , these are some seriously inventive , weird , woozy stories in which Russell does some fantastic things with lyric .
Farside by Ben Bova ( Tor Books )
The multi - award - succeed writer is back with another serious , straight - up science fabrication tarradiddle . We ’re build an lookout station on the far side of the Moon , and it ’s going to be the site for treachery , slaying , confederacy and all that good stuff . Plus we ’ve detected an Earthlike major planet just 30 light yr away . Who ’s choke to be the first to get pictures of it ?
antiquity and Tangibles : and Other floor by Tim Pratt ( Merry Blacksmith Press )
A third compendium of account by the acclaimed generator , this one wasa success on Kickstarterand include 23 new stories , including a collaborationism with Nick Mamatas that was a finalist for the Bram Stoker Award .
The Teleportation Accident by Ned Beauman
This Quran was longlisted for the honored Booker Prize and has been out for a while in the U.K. grant to thisGuardian review , the book is full of sly historical discontinuities , like ketamine existing in pre - World War II Germany , in addition to its dizzying complex plot of land . A German solidification house decorator named Ned Loeser tail a girl around the earth , only slightly distracted by , toquote the Independent , “ a fully useable teleportation equipment in seventeenth - hundred Venice and 20th - century California ; a Communist spy ring ; Los Angeles ’s nascent public transport system ; and a consecutive sea wolf eating hearts at Caltech . ”
source : Locus , SF Signal , Amazon.com . The list at SF Signal is peculiarly indispensible and comprehensive .
BooksCory Doctorow
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